To breathe with no lungs and fight with no bones
by SassaFrassy
Summary: He is older that he's supposed to be. He has seen more. He knows more and the weight of knowledge drags him down to the abyss. He can't help being different. He's lived thousands of lives and killed even more. Rin is not human, but he sure as hell isn't a demon. He stays as himself, even if it hurts. But right now, Rin is simply "Rin". (Eldritch abomination!Rin.)
1. Chapter 1

They were reborn again. Again. This was just ridiculous. They were sure that the last life should have been their last. The strain of being stuffed into another body was hardly a pleasant experience. The amount of space at their disposal to keep track of everything was shrinking. They'd rather choose being gutted inside out. Sensations were better than the feeling of being compressed into something that of lesser extent.

Weakness should not have been an option in their case. They've had this drilled into them since their first life.

 _ **'Cadet, you may have field experience but if there's one thing you should never do, in front of them, is to show weakness. '**_

They were told that the same day they went overboard and nearly pushed themselves beyond repair. The same day they saw that. For a second time.

 _ **'Those things will get you if you do something as little as blow a raspberry.'**_

They hated those words. They hated them because they were a memory.

But they hated it more. It threw them into this mess and when they find it, they'll have it's organs lying in the dirt.

They'll just have to wait.

Be born, live your life in a more or less human manner and then die under stupendous circumstances. They've done it almost a hundred times. Or maybe more - they stopped counting at fifty. They're happy that they've stopped counting. Numbering terrible events was never healthy.

Besides, this was probably going to be one of those calm family lives. They haven't had one of those in centuries. The heartwarming drama of it would be refreshing.

They felt rather cold at the moment. Whatever nurse was supposed to be caring for him was doing a terrible job. Babies are supposed to be kept warm, especially newborns.

" This boy is Yukio. And the boy with the blue flames is Rin. "

 _. . . . Wait a minute_. They've heard this line somewhere before. From a friend of a previous life. They had been overly obsessed with a series to the point of health concerns. The only problem being them having to hear all of the headcannons, theories and character studies with _over glorified fanatical rambling_. Had it been criticized speech they would have enjoyed listening to it, but at some point they managed to slightly slip into their form -their second pair of eyes opened as a sign of discomfort when they had forgotten their morning coffee. The result was an extreme amount of freaking out, yelling and an existential crisis from their friend. Hah, that was funny. A small smile made it's way up their new face.

"That baby just smiled at me and I'm supposed to kill it." How about **no** , mistery man. They want to have some peace for a few years, after dying from asphyxiation in his previous life.

"Well then, their mother is taken care of. I bet you'd want to do the honor. "

"No. I won't. I'm going to raise these two." _Ah yes, the blissful dilemma of morals and innocence._ Truly a stupid, yet helpful thing.

* * *

It's been three years and Rin is _less than thrilled_ about living with the specs of dust demons and hog goblins around Tokyo, with the eventual demon possessed humans.

This world hadn't been something that was popular among his kind, despite similarities between themselves and the demons. They lived as a concept and had egos just like them, but only about five or so of his kind visited the world. It was nice to know that there would be less of his kind, but living with those things flying around it could get annoying. Especially since they now live in a church _. A church._ Their kind was proof of gods not existing yet now he was stuck worshipping something that didn't even exist.

Going out during the night in his full form was also hard. With their current guardian being unbelievably protective and going out of the body was much more difficult in this life. Wards were also annoying. But at least they had a brother.

His brother stuck to him like glitter on clothing. Not that he minded. His brother had the ability to see the demons, so there was no confusion.

It's also the first time in centuries that they've had a sibling in a life. As much as they enjoy peace and quiet, they need their daily dose of human contact as much as any other abomination. They knew that Lovecraft had gained a hobby of gardening because of a human friend of his, and probably had stolen a good chunk of earth to care for. So having a human friend is _good._

The only thing that he had absolutely loathed was _every damn priests' inability to cook like a pair of **decent human beings.**_ He learned from a fire in the kitchen at the age of two that he was going to be the cook if he wanted to eat something that doesn't look like it was cremated in the pits of hell.

He'd have to wait until he was six to do that, though. From what he remembers, or rather their friends' rambling told them, he was now one of those "main character" type, which meant exceptional granny hairs at the age of twenty five. If he could even get that far this time. He and his brother were children of a powerful demon - Satan. Well, at least their bodies were. Rin has heard of things like these from other of his kind, but a body _made from an abomination, **housing** one_? Rin knows this will end badly.

They also have demonic half-siblings! How wonderful! More people who will no doubt call the cops if he starts eating cereal with his second mouth! And a whole eight of them, maybe more.

But the biggest problem was the relationship between them that they'll have. He tried watching the show with his friend from the other life on Netflix and realised that this was going to be a heartwrenching story about two illegitimate children trying to fit into a family, each member of which was more disfunctional than the last. Or that's what he thought. He fell asleep ten minutes into the first episode back then and had no legitimate understanding of the plot. Oh well, he'll deal with that later.

But right now. Right now he wants peace. Or his cats at the very least.

Today was a particularly shitty day and the third day.

After careful watching, their legal guardian ( _or actual father? He couldn't tell but he and Yukio tended to be very alike sometimes. And Yukio was only **three** )_ seemed to finally go to sleep from two in the morning being the earliest and three being the latest. So everything after three o'clock was fair game.

Ever since his newest discovery, he's been roam the town in his semi-full yet unstable form. Having a glowing melted metal-like form that shimmers and has thousands of glowing eyes with mouths, that only glow brighter in the depths of it, was not exactly " _subtle"._ So he'd have settle for knife legs and three pairs of arms, eyes and mouths and annoying cramps in the morning.

That and he's already adopted five cats from the alley way in Fukuoka street and three from the back of the club on the same street. So eight cats are now his and there is **nothing** anybody can do now.

Not even the old lady who is now dead from " _accidentally_ " falling off her balcony two days ago. He sympathetised with animals. Not humans. Well, except for special humans.

So now, Rin (" _phosphorus" and "tiger", he muses. A pretty name_.) is sitting on a construction site far off the city with his snuggly horde of eight cats with another one that he's found in a trash can on his way here. Oh well, the cat is his now. He'll call him Junkie. Junkie the cat will now live with the pride of the quatruplets Soba, Mochi, Tako and Yaki, Glitter the cosmetics horder, Dirt-kun and Trash-chan the dumpster duo and Rum, who he found carrying an empty whiskey bottle.

Carbonara the dove and his twelve pigeon family will not be pleased, but a truce will surely be made.

He also stopped by a gas station, the employee of which had generously offered him a free slushy and nine ham sandwiches. With the help of hypnosis and messing with the security cameras.

So now he was slurping his drink, looking over the barely filed streets of Tokyo while his cats were munching on their meats and sandwich stuffing, his pigeonseating the leftover bread and sauces. And he **clearly** was not noticing the very loud clunk of high heels slowly getting louder.

 _'Nope I'm not looking at the suicidal mortal who thought it would be a good idea to walk at a construction site on high heels at this unholy hour. No. It's me-night. Me-night is me-night. '_

The clanking stopped after a few minutes.

"Well, this is... _new_. Please do tell why one of your kind is here?" Ah, so the suicidal mortal does not know manners.

"Enjoying the scenery, feeding my cats and pigeons. Y'know, the usual." Dear _God_ , their voice was beyond squeaky, even if they're speaking with their second mouth. He could feel the person behind him flinching.

"You don't plan on causing mass havoc here, do you? This is quite a desolate place amongst your kind."

"That's because one of us has been "born" here. If you understand that term that is. Nobody wants to be rude and intrude, especially when it is able to "erase"."

"That so? Please do speak." Ah, a _manipulative mother fucker ,_ this person is! It was true though. There was one of his kind in this world and it was powerful. With demons being something sort of pieces and chuncks of its evergrowing soul. Its resonance can be felt through every human that was possessed by a demon. This one wasn't an idol, god, mutant or curse. It was an actual dimension. He had a friend, who also was a dimension and when he found his core, he showered him with compliments and praises on how wonderful, beautiful and complex yet balanced he made his creation. He swore he saw him blush. It was true though, creating life for his kind was beyond hard.

Even his body felt a great surge of its soul inside of him. And it felt _warm, comforting yet trying to reach out, come back, let me see you, child-_

But that was a problem. A very shitty problem. Having a vessel made with a soul of his kind meant that he was supposed to have a soul to match. But right now he had a body made from that and a soul that was not of the same element. Two different elements will either join and become one or contradict and repel each other. The later version resulting in a black hole and their total death. Which, technically, wouldn't be bad but then he'd be dying for as long as the black hole will be open. So a painfully slow and starving death is the last thing that he wants. A death, yes, but something quick and hopefully painless.

One of his cats moved to rub his mayonnaise covered face against his shorts. Ah, he was getting depressed again. And another cat with ham on his chin was getting the same idea and moving in on him with a ketchup covered one joining him.

" **AHEM**. "

"I'm not telling you **shit**."

"Rude." _Oh, we're sassy now, is it?_

"If you're thinking that I'll want to destroy the world you have here. Our kind is fascinated by creatures who create life."

* * *

Rin is five and the cat horde is becoming a problem.

Especially since he has about ten cats following him from school back to the church every day. Sometimes it's fifteen. Sometimes twenty. It's getting out of hand but screw it.

The problem being not why he was followed by cats, but how was he being followed by cats. They didn't need the cat's reasons but his. By the knowledge of his legal guardian, Father Fujimoto, he shouldn't have about twenty adopted cats. So him coming back from kindergarten with that many to the church with several rubbing themselves against his and his brother's legs raised a lot of brows. This probably grated their nerves because just yesterday they were caught taking care of the mountain dog puppy they found a week ago. And for once, it was Yukio's idea. While Yukio loved fishes and dogs, Rin preferred birds and cats. But sometimes Rin will be wondering if they could smuggle a Welsh corgi and a Norwegian forest cat into the church.

"Rin, Yukio, where did you find those cats?"

"I pet them a lot. They're fuzzy."

"I dunno. Can we keep them?"

"Can we? Please!"

"Please! Let's keep them! I already have names picked out."

 _"Lord up in Heaven, give me strength. First the mountain dog, now **this.**.."_


	2. Chapter 2

Rin is six and he starts to notice how Yukio and their legal guardian leave ever so often. It usually started with a simple "We're going to get some groceries." But it was pretty obvious that both of them can't cook for shit. So technically, Rin should be doing the grocery shopping. Not Yukio, whose tongue feels **almost nothing except for life threatening flavors and sea food**. So Rin refused to believe that his family was actually going out for groceries. _Without_ him.

Rin almost felt insulted. _Almost_.

So now he was standing in front of Yukio and Shiro, with the door behind his back.

"Take me with you."

"Nii-san?"

"If you're going shopping, then it should take an hour at most! But you're gone for almost the whole day! There's no way you guys are going out grocery shopping for that long." Rin was going to stand by his point even if it meant tampering with memories and hypnosis. This was his new twin, for shits sake! If his twin was getting hurt, no lawsuit was going to save this old human.

"Well why do you wanna go?" Shiro asked as he crouched down to his level. Now Shiro was asking for a reason. Either to make him sound selfish or make him realize how boring the trip might be. Too bad for him, Rin's known more than enough manipulative assholes, to bend around that. He learns from the best yet at the same time from the worst.

So by experience, now was the time to fake childish innocence to seem like the older sibling with a complex or a kid that wanted to help a little too much. The later seemed like the best option.

"I wanna help too!"

"Rin that's sweet-"

"Because you're _old_!" Just because he was faking innocence does not mean that he isn't petty. No, _he is absolutely petty_ about this and he was going to do something about it. "Sensei told us that the older you get, the crackier your bones get! And you're super old. _The oldest_!" Broken grammar would add fuel to the fire. "And if you carry too much, your bones will crack! I don't want Tou-san to be in the hospital again!" Rin wailed. He was going to stick to the puppy eyes since crying would be overkill.

* * *

Shiro Fujimoto had clearly underestimated his eldest sons attention span. He really hadn't thought this through when he began teaching Yukio exorcism. His initial plan was to teach the younger everything he could, believing that Rin wouldn't mind about them spending more time together. He just hadn't accounted for Rin to be _this_ perceptive. Which meant that either Rin had a secret talent for seeing details, shifts in behavior and observations or the teachers really hated him for fighting and decided to take it out on his grades. Either way, he was in a pickle.

So now, Shiro and the twins were heading out to the grocery store. Luckily, he took a credit card that Mephisto gave him for emergencies and they actually needed a few things.

He'll have to think of a new schedule and excuse later.

They enter the grocery store and Shiro feels relief when he sees a sale. Hopefully Mephisto's bank account won't feel **that much** pain today. Then again, their kettle was pretty old and a coffee machine seems like dream.

He's pretty sure Rin and Yukio are trailing behind him.

"Tou-san?"

"Hm? What's wrong Yukio?"

"Nii-san ran the other direction to get rice and milk. Can I go get the fish?"

Shiro whipped his head around. Rin was nowhere to be found. Rin was probably going to get himself lost in the supermarket, most likely trying to get the freshest carton of milk and getting stuck in the fridge.

" _Shit_."

"What's shit?"

"I'll tell you when you're older."

* * *

Rin was skipping through the grain isle and towards the dairy isle. Life is good. The spaghetti is probably two weeks old but screw it. Rin had discovered last night that mixing cocao and coffee with milk together gives him the taste of the _light of his life. The savior of his days. The one thing that is maybe worth living._

 _Depression Hazelnut Chocolate with Irish cream._

Nothing was going to dampen his mood, _especially_ since he slept a minimum of fifteen minutes that night. He spent about seven hours drowning his sorrows in the delightfully bitter beverage and its caffeine powered ecstasy, wondering why he found out how to brew it only now. His body is still tingling from the comfort drink of stress.

His thoughts are interrupted by sounds of struggling. It's not far from him. About one or two isles away. Naturally, the law of logic says that any other child would just let it be. Rin spits on that law. So to the grunting mystery isle it is.

He's met with a woman and a man. And a rather _**familiar**_ scene.

The woman was in her twenties while the man was a good forty years old. Said man reeked of alcohol.

Rin doesn't need another take. He knows this situation. He's witnessed and experienced it several times. It's something that makes him snap.

 _(Flashback.)_

 _" Mitsuru? Mitsuru, please, give me a name."_

 _"It's- It's okay. I'm fine, Sachi, I swea-"_

 _"Mitsuru, tell me. Or god forbid I go swimming in your memories. **Who. Did. This?!"**_

 _"Sachi, please calm down-"_

 _"Mitsuru, ARE YOU SAYING YOU'D RATHER LET THEM JUST SPIT ON YOU AND LEAVE IT LIKE THAT?! I'M NOT LETTING CATTLE LIKE THEM **JUST THINK** THEY CAN DO THIS."_

 _"Sachi, I'm sorry but... I'm sure you'll understand one day. You shouldn't let something like that just, y'know, get you down and.."_

 _"...You should stay at my place for the night. I'm sure Hadoro-kun would love to keep you company. "_

 _"What about you?"_

 _ **"I have business to take care of.** "_

 _(END flash back lol)_

 **He's going to rip this man in half. Consequences be damned.**

The man notices him. He doesn't even manage to blurt anything out before Rin snaps all of his eyes on him, throwing malice and pain into the man. Organ failure is inevitable.

The lights flicker in the dairy isle. The man falls limp on the ground. Rin is still a bit angry but nothing unfixable. The woman is staring at him in shock.

There's a moment of silence.

Rin's extra pairs of eyes are still open and concentrating.

"W-who _are_ you?!"

" Someone who just helped you. Now help me drag him under the shelves."

...

"What happens in the," Wait he doesn't know which isle this is. Rin's eyes on his forehead shift upwards."dairy isle, stays in the dairy isle."

"O-okay. " Crap, that sounded more like a threat than a reassuring message.

He'll be hearing reports about a murder with the victims organs exploding in a store after two weeks but whatever. He did good.

* * *

Rin is ten when he makes _the absolute **worst** decision of his current life._

There are two ages when he needs to be on guard for anything and everything. It's when he's ten and sixteen.

When he's sixteen, he's apparently supposed to get fired from a job, commit murder and verbally abuse an old man and merge with Satan's DNA. Which is bad. Or something of the sort. It's been a long time since he's heard any plot tips from his friend in the past life. He knows that he most definitely can avoid the " _murder by words and Satanification"_. Everything else? Meh, he'll wing it.

When he's _ten_ , on the other hand, he has to mark days, write down sensations, try on many types of foundation to find one for his skin and all the sciency self care stuff that he doesn't pay attention to. It happens every tenth year of a new life and Rin absolutely loathes it.

His kind call it the _Awakening. Rin calls it the Life-Fuckening._

It's something like "Eldritch puberty" if he could put in terms. Something of an unexpected transformation into his full form and then just leaving him to deal with the aftermath. It usually leaves a few extra eyes and mouths with razor sharp teeth.

He hates it with a passion. It's just more proof that he's the same monster as that thing.

 _(Second flashback SIKE)_

 _" **PREPARATION FOR LANCE DEPLOYMENT: 40%.** " The artificial intelligence announced. It was a maximum of three minutes before the levitating lance above them would deploy. They could feel the red static crackle on the air as the lance gained power and leghth. **It's** corpse- no, **it** was still alive- was staring at her. Her vision was blurring into multiple pictures as adrenaline pumped through her veins. She could already feel new limbs ripping out of her spine and ribs._

 _'Keep it together. Three more minutes, this mission will be over.'_

 _'Mom and Dad's house is on the other side. Mom is on the other side. I'm going home. Stay calm.'_

 _"MAJOR OSAKA, THIS IS AN ORDER-TERMINATE THE DEPLOYMENT, **IMMEDIATELY**."_

 _"I -hic- I can't. Order denied. I'm -hic- sor- sorry. " Static sounded through the communication._

 _"CADET! KID, LISTEN-"_

 _"I'm sorry." There was a heavy wind in the background on the other side._

 _"KIDDO-"_

 _" **PREPARATION FOR LANCE DEPLOYMENT : 70%"**_

 _"He - I, General Katsuki, mission achievement failed. I'm sorry."_

 _"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?! THE MISSION WAS TO DESTROY ARLOZ. THE MISSION WAS A **SUCCESS** \- YOU'RE STANDING RIGHT ON HIS **CORPSE** -"_

 _"It's still alive. General, I'm- I -hic- sorry. I used too much of, the y'know, the blurr drug. I, I'm losing control and conciousness."_

 _"KID, LISTEN, I'M HEADING OVER THERE RIGHT NOW. I HAVE THE ANTIDOTE, DOCTOR SHIT FOR BRAINS GOT A BEATING, TERMINATE THE DEPLOYMENT AND HOLD ON I'LL BE THERE IN A MINUTE."_

 _"The mission-"_

 _"SCREW THE GOD DAMN MISSION. SCREW TOKYO, SCRE ARLOZ, SCREW **EVERYTHING**. OSAKA, TERMINATE THE DEPLOYMENT AND RUN TO YOUR RIGHT. **NOW**. HOLD ON TO YOUR HUMANITY. PLEASE!"_

 _"MOM. STOP!_

 _I -hic- I. I'm sorry. I'm sorry we couldn't go looking for a dress together.-"_

 _ **" PREPARATION FOR LANCE DEPLOYMENT : COMPLETE. LAUNCH IN 5**."_

 _"OSAKA-"_

 _"I'm sorry I couldn't let you walk me down the aisle to the altar. I- I just."_

 _" **4**."_

 ** _"I DON'T WANT TO BE THE SAME MONSTER THAT KILLED MY MOTHER!"_**

 _" **3**."_

 _"Hey, Osaka." She looked down to see its eyes staring at her._

 _" **2.** "_

 _"Thanks for the memories."_

 _" **1**."_

 _" Even if you tried to kill me most of the time."_

 _"OSAKA-!"_

 _" **Launch**."_

 _(END of flashback lmao.)_

His first life was...a bitter pill to swallow. How long has it been since that day? Is the General still alive? Will they remember her? Is there still meaning to running from life to life in search of the end?

What's the point? It happened. They don't want to remember it anymore.

When will the suffering finally end?

Tears hit the pavement below him. Rin quickly wiped them away.

He was out on an errand. A quick run to the nearest market for some ingredients. That and the old man and Yukio kept bugging him to get some fresh air and exercise a little bit.

They had, _unfortunately_ , noticed his sleeping and eating disorders. If if could even be called that. He's pretty sure that staying awake, or forgetting that the human body needs sleep to function, till one passes out is categorized as insomnia. And they were fussing over him like no tomorrow. Had he slept that night, is he going to make something to eat, did something happen, was he having bad dreams, was he hearing or seeing things - Rin felt more annoyed than pampered. If they thought that Satan was trying to possess him then they clearly underestimated him. The old dimensional abomination had **centuries** of absurdity in front of him if he wanted to get any progress in finding him, much more if he wanted to possess him.

Though jumping in the tiger den and sleeping right on them when he was seven was probably a great problem. He hadn't ever seen the old man that terrified. The tigers didn't mind though. In fact, the zookeeper had to pry him off the animal.

None the less, they were hellbent (Rin snorts. _Hellbent_ ) on him getting a legitimate diet that didn't consist of fifteen shots of coffee per week. So off to the market they sent him. _Again_.

Rin was half asleep when they told him that they were missing fish and then everything was a blur.

So now he was walking to the nearest market for fish, hopefully the fresh kind. Summer was a nightmare, especially with all the bugs and fire demons crawling from God knows where.

Today though, it was absolutely absurd. There were bugs everywhere. He was pretty sure he wasn't the only who noticed. Most of them were harmless flies but there were those who reeked of Satan's foul soul. Dog days must be some sort holiday in the demon realm.

He hadn't realized that he bumped into someone. He looked up to apologize only to realize that this wasn't just someone. This person is very, _very_ close to Satan.

The girl he bumped into was about nineteen, but the insect antennas, little thorns over the body and coal tars surrounding her gave much away. A high class noble? _No_ , the pull is too strong. The woman gasped.

"Little one." Oh yes, this woman was _definitely_ possessed by a demon." We've been looking everywhere for you. What are doing here?"

"Tou-san told me not to talk to strangers..."

" I was actually sent here by Father." The woman smiled. "Come now, we mustn't keep him waiting. My name is Beel." Rin felt his hair stand on end. Yep, _definitely_ possessed but he had a job to do. The salmon in the market had his name on it and he was going to at least get that much done. He hadn't noticed that Beel had grasped his hand and was dragging him along somewhere.

"Wait!" Rin exclaimed. "I need to buy something from the market."

"Then I'll come with you. Certainly little boys shouldn't wander around without supervision." The demon was insistent on following him.

So Rin decided to let her walk with him as they walked towards the market.

The fish section was in a building near the main marketplace. The fish there was cheaper and fresher than what they sold in stores. Buying the fish was easy. Ask which one you want and watch it get guillotined with a knife and wrapped up. Rin was about to take the bag but Beel had taken it first. She gave him another smile after leaving the building with him.

She then turned left. The way to the monastery was to the right. Well, it was fun while it lasted.

"Beel-nii, you're going the wrong way."

"I know a shortcut to Home. Just follow me." She said as she led him down an alley. Beel. The name kind of reminded Rin of something but he couldn't tell-

 _Wait. Beel was a nickname. For Beelzebub. **The king of flies.**_

But that made no sense. Technically, Rin had his first demon encounter six years from now on, at least. He wasn't supposed to interact with other demons-

 _Or did he._ He didn't have any knowledge of it. He only knew of the interactions during the teen years. What If this was actually something that was supposed to happen? Did he even have a solid timeline? Panic kept rising as Rin thought of the many weird things he has probably missed. Until something bitter comes up from his mouth, making him cough.

He snatched his hand from Beelzebub and reached for his mouth. His coughing escalated.

"Young one? Are you ill?"

Rin looked at his hand. _Mercury_. There was _mercury in his **mouth**_. That could only mean one thing. Oh dear, it was happening. He was in public and with little room to conceal himself.

 _Shit shit shit **shit**._

"Poison?!" Beelzebub gasped. "You have been _poisoned_!"

"I- I, I need to go. Back home." Rin coughed even more. "I can't stay. Please give- could ylu give me the fish back?"

"What is going on? Are you being hurt? By that _priest?_!" Anger was most definitely evident in her voice.

"I- I just, I'm sorry! You have to go-!" Rin jolted as his ribs and spine started hurting. His knees gave out as he started coughing even more.

"Young one-" _Times up_.

Rin could have only glanced at Beelzebub before he _cracked_.

Then he felt **everywhere**. Body growing into different shapes and sizes, colliding with cars and people, mercury spreading everywhere. There was screaming, yelling and panicking on the street. He roared. Arms and claws twisting and turning.

That had been... _stressful_. Rin had managed to surpress his form after a solid twenty minutes of cursing in different languages. As soon as he started he put an illusion up to hopefully get into the nearest hiding spot and call Glitter and get him to steal him some foundation. He managed to grab the fish while he was at it and made a beeline down the alley. He found Glitter after ten minutes with a bottle and a broken mirror.

Well, it could have been worse...

* * *

 _"FATHER, OH FATHER IT'S TERRIBLE!"_

 _"Beelzebub, what-"_

 _"IT'S HORRIBLE, THOSE HUMANS ARE ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING. TO ABUSE OUR LITTLE BROTHER-"_

 **"BEELZEBUB."**

 _"Eep-!"_

 **"What. Happened? And drop your voice down a few decibels.** "

 _"It's absolutely terrible father! Terrible I say! We have to double our efforts, no we have to triple them!"_

 _"Get to the point!"_

 _"The young one, Rin, our youngling. HE'S BEING EXPERIMENTED ON!"_

 _"WHAT?!"_

 _"THOSE BASTARDS! WHERE ARE THEY!"_

 **"Elaborate..."**

 _"I had found our little brother, no less than a few human years old, on an errand. I was going to bring him back when suddenly. SUDDENLY-!"_

 _"DOWN WITH THE VOLUME, BEELZEBUB!"_

 _"He started coughing up poison. "Mercury" as the humans called it. He then started shaking and begging me to leave or take him back. He was frantically apologizing until. OH DEAR FATHER IT WAS TERRIFYING!"_

 _"WHAT WAS IT?!"_

 _"BEELZEBUB, WHAT HAPPENED?"_

 _"They turned him into a weapon of poison, Father! And to think that Mephisto would allow them to mutilate and mutate his demon heart so!"_

 _"THAT traitor! Off with his head!"_

" **IBLIS, SILENCE. BEELZEBUB, CONTINUE."**

 _"His true demon form, had underwent changes so unhealthy and so grotesque. My vessel snapped under the force of the impact and that was all."_

 **"...Beelzebub, Amaimon, Astaroth. Triple your efforts. We will not let them go unpunished. We'll make those scum suffer. "**


	3. Chapter 3

Rin is sixteen and waiting. Doing part time jobs whenever possible. He's graduated from middle school yet he didn't bother trying to look for other learning establishments, much to the displeasure of Fujimoto and his brother. His brother had gotten a scholarship in True Cross which by human standards was wonderful. But if he thought that he wouldn't see Rin during the time of studying, then he was going to be surprised.

He's raised a fair sum of money working in a delivery service, running on rooftops and cable lines. It reminds him of the time when he was a menace in a few worlds, wrecking havoc and mischief while trying to find purpose in fighting. It gave him a bit of nostalgia, thinking back to the time when he was naive enough to think that fighting would give him meaning. Or maybe he was simply looking for someone who could erase his soul, once and for all.

Gliding back to the shop, he made a quick detour to see if the pigeons he fed last time were still there. He was called to work way too early today because of a mistake in the packaging.

His cat count had risen to forty seven, the newest edition being Doughnut, the largest and probably oldest of the bunch he had collected. And by far the biggest grump he's yet to encounter, despite grooming other cats and letting pigeons sleep on him. Yet she always pulls out the sour face when Rin tries to coddle her, pressing her toe beans against his form and (what could be considered) his head. Perhaps Doughnut was simply not the most affectionate of cats but still respected him. Rin can understand that.

The flapping of wings alarmed him. His pigeons were following him. He stretched out his arm, letting Carbonara and Biscuit land on his arm.

"Honestly, fuck the sun. Bright glowing death machine with heat persistance."

The started pecking ar him repeatedly, showing signs of fear and worry. He acknowledged their pecking and let them and their families lead him. There was rarely a time when they required his help, but when they did it was something serious.

A wave of unease went over Rin. Something was wrong, he thought as he was closing in on the playground. He heard laughter but it was far too early for children to playing.

The sunrise reflected on his legs as he flowed through the air. He's pretty sure he has rumors of some sort about him at this point.

Landing on a nearby lamp post, he saw three boys, probably the same age as him, huddled together. They were most likely talking about something, with the laughter and such. Genuinely harmless, at least. They didn't seem to be causing trouble.

Or rather, until Rin's second pair of eyes noticed the bloody forms of Parmesan and Cracker, pigeons under Carbonara's wing. The smell of blood became more evident and so was the vague shape of the crossbow in the pale haired boy's hands. The bloodlust Rin shot landed directly into the youths hands. The boy yelled in surprise as he dropped the crossbow, confused as to why it started hurting all of a sudden. The other two broke out in a cold sweat.

Something was coming. Something angry.

Shiratori Reiji felt terrified for some reason. It wasn't the pigeons, those things are dead, and nobody else was there with them.

"Or is there?" The voice of Astaroth called. Reiji grunted. He had wanted to get up early and blow off some steam because of the voice of doubt and odd coercion, not have it telling him what to do. He felt angrier and more irritated during the past few days. It didn't help since he was going to have to transfer to True Cross at the beginning of the school year. His parents had a reputation, there was no way he was gonna mess it up.

Nonetheless, pigeons? They were all over the place, nobody would care if one of them died.

Still, even when he was just minding his own business, the pigeons were giving off a vibe of something...menacing.

Don't touch the pigeons.

Don't touch the cats.

Don't even look at them.

Don't.

That's what the feeling usually told him. And as much as it gave him the heebie-jeebies, Reiji never tried anything with the pigeons that gave him that feeling. The pigeons who were just pigeons weren't so lucky.

Today, he had tried to shoot the odd pigeons. And then this happens.

"Hey, Reiji, what do you think just happened?"

" Who cares? Damn thing just makes me wanna shoot some more." Before Reiji could pick up his crossbow again, one of his friends grabbed his arm.

"Wait, Reiji! Maybe we should stop. You, you've heard those rumors right? The ones about the Hikaru Dorobo!"

"The what Dorobo? As in thief? What kinda damn rumors go around about a thief?" Reiji was an avid listener to rumors, but he's never heard of some kind of shiny thief.

"Not a thief. Some sort of Yokai or evil spirit with glowing glass legs in the shape of scissor blades. They say he steals pet pigeons and cats at night and runs around buildings with food that's not his own. And the owners that go looking for them always forget they even had a pet! Some go missing or even end up dead!" Reiji was close to laughing. Scratch that, he was.

"Dude, have you been smoking something? If so, mind telling me what, it sounds like one hell of a ride."

"I'm serious! There's a bunch of people who've seen him running on rooftops and he's always followed by the pigeons and cats he stole!" His friend was scrambling to reach for his phone while pointing at the pigeons." What if those pigeons are actually his pigeons! We could be cursed! Or even dead! Look, I found a picture on the Web! See!" He yelled as he showed Reiji his phone. It was a blurry picture, filled with pigeons flying but a vague shape of a human could be seen. There was also two long glowing appendages sticking out of the mass.

"That could be photoshopped. Besides it's not like it's actually-"

The sharp sound of rocks hitting each other brought their attention to the pigeons. Or rather, the thing standing on top of the pigeons.

No words could describe the horror that was standing on two odd knives. A hoodie did nothing to hide the halo that ate up darkness as it shone. The street lights flickered and the atmosphere turned cold. Dozens of pigeons were beside the thing, either on its shoulders or on the ground, gently pecking at the downed ones. Reiji could feel his friends' jaws slacken. Unfortunately, his grip on the crossbow slackened too. The weapon fell with a clatter.

"We're fucked."

The horror peered at them, six eyes ablaze. A shriek echoed through the park.

* * *

Fujimoto knew his sons well. Or so he thought. He'd raised them from being newborn babies to what they are now.

So when Rin's current employer called him in the ass crack of dawn to deliver a last minute package, it was obvious that Rin wasn't going to be in a very good mood for the entirety of the day.

Rin was a strange child in many cases. But he was perceptive. And that was dangerous, because he could unroot everything he was trying to bury.

There were quite a few things Rin liked. Cooking, cats, beating up people to the near brink of death, coffee and sleep. Fujimoto joked about Rin getting his habit of drinking coffee from him and he clearly bought it. However, that would mean that sleep wouldn't be something that Rin was fond of. As it turned out, Rin had two moods - staying awake for an ungodly amount of time and sleeping in a near comatose state for three days straight. And when he slept, he expected to stay that way for an unknown amount of time. Being woken up from his slumber could only mean that he had to do something and work required energy. The whole ordeal always turned Rin into grumpy old man, constantly grumbling about "nobody knowing how to cook in this shack" and "buying everyone a cookbook for next Christmas".

Rin had to run out of the church to his workplace, then to the adress of the package and then back to his workplace first thing in the morning. That should have taken him an hour at most. So when noon came and Rin still wasn't home, Fujimoto became worried. Until he got a call from his employer claiming that Rin had not come back to deliver the receipt and that he was fired. Then Fujimoto became very, very worried. Not about the job, no, but the fact that Rin was still not heard from.

He was unpleasantly surprised when Rin walked in, hands bleeding and messy. Ah, another fight. Of course.

He dragged him to the confession booth and Rin barely even fought. He probably knew this was going to happen.

"Confess your sins, little lamb."

"Well, father, it all happened the day I was born-" Rin started.

"Rin, be serious!" Fujimoto never knew where Rin's dark existential humor came from, all he knew that it was there. "What excuse do you have for coming back home covered in blood?"

"There was a guy shooting up pigeons." Fujimoto didn't know whether to sigh in relief or fatigue. Rin wasn't avoiding the question, but the answer certainly wasn't pleasing. The way he was saying it wasn't much better either, so nonchalant. "So I beat him up and called the hospital on him after he apologized."

"Rin, for god's sake!" Fujimoto nearly screamed. He shoved Rin into a headlock. "How many times have I told you to stop picking fights!"

"They deserved it! Those who believe themselves to be higher than others in nature are bound to trip and fall under their own arrogance!" And there he went with the vague quotes again. He'd been worried about it at first, he seriously had been. That a demon had gotten to him or, even worse, Satan had started whispering things into his ears. But when Mephisto himself had said that it sounded like, and he quoted, "a load of philosophical garbage given Lenin's way of speach", he just chalked it up to reading some badly written literature in the library. Very badly written literature.

"That doesn't mean that you should just go and beat them halfway to death!" He dropped Rin. Rin glared at him. He always did have owlish eyes, the shade of blue being too strong to be considered natural. If the lighting was right, you could see shades of orange and green reflecting from the light. "Especially, if you get fired from your job. The manager called. He said he didn't need a delivery boy that didn't even bother to come back."

"Not my fault he's got Kyoto Tower shoved up his ass. The old fart thinks he's in the centre of the universe." Rin sighed. "I'll just get a new job, no problem."

"That's not the point Rin. Getting a job is nice and all, but you can't keep doing part time jobs your entire life! You have to start thinking about your future. Or do you intend to inherit the church when I'm gone?"

"As if!"

"Can you two stop fighting again?!" Yelled Yukio from another room. Yukio had somewhat become accustomed to their fighting, even annoyed by it. Stepping out with a box in his hands, he glared at them. "This happens almost every day. I feel like if I leave, you two will burn the church down to the ground."

"We've been living together for 16 years, and I don't see any scorch marks on the wall!" Rin yelled back with vigor.

"That proves nothing!" Ah yes, sibling rivalry was a beautiful thing. The more they fought the closer they got. He and Yukio were no exception. "And Father's right, Rin. Don't you wanna do something for a living."

Rin blinked at Yukio before looking away. He always had that look in his eyes, anger mixed with worry. If he had known what Rin really was, or wasn't, he'd lay the topic off. He couldn't stand that stare, it reminded him to much of his mother. His first mother. To top it all off, they had the same hair colour.

"There's no point though, is there?"

"Rin."

"I mean it's not like money will even be worth it in the long run."

"Rin."

"Think about it, tomorrow the yen could rise in worth but the next day inflation could be the worst one we'd ever see!"

"Rin, really? Again with the hatred of money?"

"Greed has killed more people than you think, Yukio!"

Yukio sighed as he added another box to teh ever growing pile. Rin wondered exactly what was in there, since there aren't many things they owned overall. He eyed the boxes as he felt gills rip from under his jacket on his sides. The gills slowly gathered air from the room. The boxes smelled of metal, holy water and herbs. And blood. Lots of blood.

'Guns, huh? The old priest needs to be more subtle but points for hiding in plain sight.' Rin thought. He'd known Fujimoto had dragged Yukio out with him to be something sort of a merc or something, but he never managed to get close enough to find out. They entered areas doused in holy water with runes and whispers of spirits. It made his nose itch in the wrong way, especially when he was semi turned. His dills expanded, hoping to get a whiff of where they were comibg from. Exorcists? Maybe, maybe not. Demon summoners? Not likely. Cult rulers? Out of the question-

"Rin, are you even listening to me?!" Fujimoto yelled. Rin's gills snapped shut as he brought his attention back to the talk. Fujimoto only sighed, once more. Honestly, he needed to call Mephisto. Again. "Anyway, there's a job offer at the supermarket not far from here. I already called in, so you better get ready."

"Wait, now?"

"Yes, now, and don't worry about attire. You can borrow one of my suits." Fujimoto said as the other priests began to take up Rin's attention. Now for that call.

* * *

"I swear, Mephisto, the older he gets, the more cryptic he gets. Are you sure this isn't something to do with genetics?"

"Shiro, if it were genetic, you would have had two cryptic sons that sleep heavier than the common bear. I don't understand why you keep insisting on talking about this to me of all people."

"You know damn well why. He was staring at the boxes today."

"A sibling not wanting to be separated from the litter?"

"The boxes of guns, Mephisto."

"Well, then you could say he's picking up smells and sounds that could be possibly dangerous. It sounds more like his demon instincts kicking in rather than something else. You know, like the time he caught you going out and you had to make an excuse to get groceries. And the time he accidentally crawled under the altar and began asking since when did the church have a cellar. And the time you almost got a heart attack when he was that close to getting in contact with a demon simply because he stared at a coal tar for too long. And the time when he asked you why you smelled like gunpowder."

"You're having fun with this, aren't you?"

" Or do you think he knows?"

"It can't be. Me and Yukio did our best to hide our tracks. But seeing as how Rin manages to see through things, I wouldn't be surprised. But, still."

"Still what?"

"He doesn't act like he knows. If Rin really knew, wouldn't he pester for answers? It's not like him to like being in the dark."

"Perhaps it's his way of accepting it. The best way to react to an open secret is not reacting at all."

"Maybe. But still."

"What is now?"

"I don't know but something about Rin is off. I've raised him for sixteen years and I still can't shake the feeling he has sometimes. Like he's not really there."

"Well maybe it's the connection you have. You are a clone of Azazel, maybe you're sensing something in him that-"

"That's enough out of you."

"Oh, did I strike a nerve?"

"Whatever. The seal on the sword is weakening too. It's too soon."

"Maybe. Or maybe the fire within has enough heat to burn through at last. You know what that means, don't you?"

"It won't come to that. I won't let it."

"You might not, but I will."

* * *

Rin yawned. Looking over his free hand, he flexed his fingers in different directions, listening to the bones pop and twist. The skin retreated to reveal muscles flowing like raging murky waters. The waterworks retreated to show thin fingers made of gold and cracks of dripping mercury before he brought his skin back to his hand. That was still there. Has been for the past, what, 4 millenia? Maybe more?

He glared at the gold. It reminded him of what he was. What Rin will always be. What Rin could never enjoy.

The joy of being a human.

He waited at the payphone, wondering if Yukio still had his phone on. A soft click echoed and made Rin perk up.

"Hello, Yukio Okumura, who is this?"

"Yuki, it's me, Rin. Guess what."

"What?"

"No I want you to guess." A dejected sigh opened up from Yukio's mouth.

"Rin, you know I won't bother guessing, just tell me already."

"No. C'mon, guess." A stifled groan echoed through the line.

"Oh fine, what, you got the job?"

"Yes."

There was a beat before Yukio spoke up again.

" You actually got the job?" Rin nodded. It wasn't really hard. Just try to seem somewhat useful and they can't say no. "Rin that's great!"

"Yeah, not bad, huh? Got promoted to chef on the same day, too." Rin chuckled. If he were to will it, his chocolate mix rolls could topple empires, both corporate and militant.

"Well, that just means I won't have you calling me every hour to solve an argument you and dad have."

"Hey!"

"But still, I'm glad. Anyway, when you finish your shift, come straight home. We're having sukiyaki for dinner." And with that, Yukio hung up. Rin felt himself scowl. He was glad? That meant something was up. Especially the way he said it. It made Rin feel suspicious.

Rin still had his ear pressed to the phone picking up electric currents until he heard the conversation in the church.

'Was that Rin?'

'Yes. He got the job. Even got promoted...'

'Well, that's good news nonetheless. Anyway, I found something suspicious near the playground Rin would pass on his previous job.'

'Demons?'

'Leftovers.' Ah yes, demonic leftovers. The sign that one had actively been there or tried to gut someone but got bored. 'It's rotting demon flesh.'

'Astaroth.' Rin's ears perked at the name. A familiar name, very familiar indeed. A face with horns and red eyes piped into his mind. He pressed his ear closer to the phone.

'The seal is weakening too, it could only be a matter of time before...' Before what? His "inevitable" satanification? Unlikely. He'd rather not tear this dimension into a fur coat.

A high pitched scream knocked him out of his focus. He whipped his head to the left, phone booth forgotten as he leaned on the frame.

A small girl was trying to grab her scarf from an unwanted hog nosed demon.

Rin should probably ignore it and trace the signal again for more details. "Should" being the keyword.

But the girl seemed familiar. He feels like he'd seen her somewhere before. He stepped out of the phone booth and walked over to the child.

In a swift motion, he caught the scarf in his hands.

"There we go. Is this yours?" Rin asked the child. Rin immediately recognized the girl. She was Yui Sakamoto. Her father would often visit the church in search of guidance and other things. He never actually talked to her but he knew she also visited with her mother sometimes.

The demon tried to pull the scarf from him. Rin was having none of that. Yui, however, was still young and impressionable.

"Not a word to your parents." Rin told Yui.

In a second, Rin's hand turned gold and glowed, the light of it had made the demon burn and run for cover. Well, that's to be expected. Holy gold made from the flesh and bones of dead gods probably does that.

"Cursed vermin." Rin whispered. He looked back at Yui. "Oh, you're Yui Sakamoto, right? You go to the church that's not far from here?"

The girl nodded hesitantly.

"I'm Rin. I used to live in that church. Well, I still live there but that's not the point. Why are you here all alone?"

"Mom and I were going to the store but mom forgot to buy something so she told me to wait there." The child motioned to the front of the store. "But then the fairy took my scarf and i-"

"Ran after it?" Rin added.

Yui nodded meekly, staring at her shoes. Rin looked at the scarf. A small pin came from the edge of his fingertips and Rin clasped it on the scarf. Demons aren't known to let go of targets was a universal fact. No matter the world.

Crouching down he wrapped the scarf around Yui.

"No wonder. But anyway, a kid shouldn't be standing here all alone. Especially since who knows what is walking around here. Let's find your mother." Rin said as he finished tying the scarf around her. Offering a hand, he and Yui went on into the store.

It didn't take long before a woman with a bag ran over to them.

"Mom!"

"Yui! Why are you-" her words got stuck in her throat once she saw Rin. Rin took a good look before it hit him.

"So that's why you look familiar! You're your mother's daughter!" Rin exclaimed. The woman in front of him was the same woman he had helped in the dairy isle about ten or so years ago! What a coincidence! Yui was about five or so, thus there was a solid possibility that she was the byproduct of a happy relationship.

"You." The woman whispered. She swallowed before gathering enough courage to speak. "Why is my daughter with you?"

"She lost her scarf. I got it back for her." He said plainly. It was the truth but not exactly all of it. "If you think I'm going to kidnap her, don't. What happened in the dairy isle stays in the dairy isle. And right now we're in, what? Confectionery? Not the place, nor the time. Now off you go to your mother."

"Thanks, Rin!"

The child scuttled off to the woman. She relaxed but was still hesitant towards him. Well, who'd blame her? Seeing the child that killed your attacker now grown up and looking for you with your child? Sounded more like fae business and demonic favors. Rin was about to turn around and finish his shift-

"Wait!" Miss Sakamoto called. "Can I at least know your name?"

"Why in the many, many hells would you want to do that?" Rin asked. Rin knew where this was going. And frankly, he wanted none of it.

"If...if anything bad were-"

"Are you sure about this? You're basically promising your first born to me." Rin put emphasis on the word "first born". While during many lives of his existence, he'd made more deals with mortals than he could count. The problem was that they're never, and he means never, ready to pay the price. It's always like that with deals and humans. Very few pay up front, and even when they do they later try to negate the deal. It's hard, mind boggling work that takes time, effort and legal actions of the metaphysical kind. And Rin? Rin's not exactly the "law abiding citizen" type. "And not to mention, what sort of illegal garbage are you in to ask me to take care of your daughter?"

"If something were to happen." Miss Sakamoto said. "Just- just please promise me you'd take care of her when we can't?"

Rin wanted to go and start reciting the cons of what Miss Sakamoto wanted. He wanted to ask her what would she give him in return. But his eyes drifted to Yui, who was curios looking between her mother and him. So small, so curious and so oblivious of the near god-forbiden act her mother is trying to attempt. So, so much like him in his first life, unaware of the curse that befell on humanity.

The eldritch community already had its hand full with his other messes and fighting off the vengeful bastards that he had accumulated. They didn't need another hell spawn like him in the world.

But who was Rin to listen to reason?

"Alright. Do you have anywhere where I can write, because I legally do not have a phone - you'll have to try and summon me when it really matters."

* * *

Yukio watched Rin fold the dough over twice and roll it out thinly. He was making something, probably pastries due to the dough.

Rin hadn't gone to bed like everyone else after dinner. In fact, he'd been exceptionally quiet during that time, minus the daily banter with Father Fujimoto over "how the fuck do you nearly burn tofu". Instead, he offered to clean the dishes. Yukio really wanted to ask why Rin was still awake at 3 am rolling out dough for some reason.

"Rin, what are you doing up so late?" Yukio asked. His voice was a bit hoarse. Rin glanced over to him before going back to rolling out the dough.

"I should be asking you that. Don't you have an early ride to catch tomorrow?" Rin teased.

"I came here for some water. Now what are you making? Can't it wait till morning?"

"One, I'm making chocolate croissants, I'm aiming for as many layers as possible. Three in the eight power and stuff like that. And no, it can't wait till morning because each turn has to be separated by one hour in the refrigerator, too little and it won't stick properly, too much and the butter will be too hard to roll." Rin replied, pushing the rolling pin into the dough.

Yukio stared for a moment.

"Why?" Rin's movement faltered.

"What do you mean why? You're heading off to True Cross. That school's probably in the top ten of "first picks for overly proud billionaire to send his son off to after middle school". It's gonna be a long way, so I thought I'd make you some stuff for the road. Chocolate helps brain stimulation and all that."

"But why?"

Rin folded in the the dough and wrapped it in plastic wrap, placing it on a plate and shoving it into the fridge. He turned to look at Yukio.

"Yuki, you're gonna be there for, what, 4 months? Four months in there. For the first time in years I'm gonna be the only kid in this house and you'll be pretty much alone in there." Yukio wanted to object. He won't be alone, Fujimoto will be there once every week, maybe more, Shiemi can be considered a good friend of his and he'll be teaching others his age about exorcism. He wanted to tell Rin what was happening, but he couldn't, he shouldn't. "I'm just- I'm worried. Will you really be okay there? I was just thinking that maybe you could get something as a taste from home."

Yukio smiled sadly.

"I'll be fine, Rin. Besides, I can visit every weekend. Probably will, just to make sure the monastery won't be burned down from you and Dad's arguing." Yukio assured Rin. He will. Demon activity had been rising dramatically over the past six years, especially in far out prefectures like the one they were living in.

Rin's eyebrows pinched as if he wanted to say something. Instead he sighed.

"Still. If you're gonna be visiting, I'm gonna be checking if anyone has been bullying you, hear me! Nobody has the right to duke it out on my brother except me!" Rin pointed the rolling pin at Yukio.

"Rin." Yukio groaned.

"And if I find junk food wrappers, I swear to god, I will suplex you into the floor!"

"Rin!"

"Mark my words!"

* * *

Rin sighed as he propped his apron into his locker. Work today was uneventful, minus the occasional old lady who yelled about her expired coupons. Nonetheless, the shift was over and he could go to his usual place to feed the cats and pigeons. He had to clear his schedule a little to spend more time with them, especially after yesterday's incident. The cats were anxious and paranoid, the pigeons even more so.

Walking back home, he noticed something. There were more coal tars in the air than usual today, the smell of rust was evident alleyways.

Something was off today.

"Hey, Okumura."

Rin stopped and sniffed the air. Satan's blood. Whoever was calling him was possessed.

Rin turned around and saw the same boy who had wanted to shoot down his pigeons.

He was the one guy in his school that was somewhat rich. He planned on blackmailing him one day.

It seems today is the day!

"Ah, pigeon killer!" Rin said with an unhealthy amount of enthusiasm.

Coal tars were flying around him. It reminded Rin of the time when he met Beelzebub. Demon king? Possessing that excuse of a child? Perhaps.

The boy's hands shook and his body went rigid.

" Shut up!" Reiji grit out. His fear was gnawing at him and he felt his control and focus slip away more and more. "Just- I need to talk to you about something."

Reiji never truly understood the younger Okumura. He was perceptive, violent and, probably worst of all, shrouded in a mist of vague information.

But two things were certain. One, he was poor. Well, not that poor but poor enough to have his older brother work himself to the bone for a scholarship. And two, he was strong and ridiculously so. He'd go around doing things that demanded at least four grown men to do with ease.

Which was why he was perfect for the bodyguard position. Ever since last night, he'd been restless and near hysterical. His mind could never be at ease and the damn voice was just so annoying.

Always whispering weird and ridiculous things. First yelling something about some prince, then torture and experiments and suddenly yelling about murdering someone with mercury or-

Reiji shook his head. No, he was going to survive this week and then he'll be in True Cross, he'll be safe.

"This is important, Okumura. Come with me." He made a reach for his hand, only to brush it before it slid out of his reach. He never realized how cold Okumura's hands were. A biting cold that reminded Reiji of brutal winter and boiling water.

"No." Rin said bluntly.

'Get him alone, he's afraid, I feel it in my bones, come back home-

Reiji steeled himself for a moment. Keep calm, just swallow your pride just this once.

"Please. I really need to talk to you about something but it's super personal." Reiji breathed out. The words almost went out of his mouth without a second thought, almost like someone was talking for him. "It's not something that I'd like to talk about in public. And you're the only one I can talk to about it."

This got Okumura's attention. He looked over him, almost as if he were looking for something.

"Alright. But you owe me a favor, got it?"

Reiji shuddered. He didn't know why, but dread was pooling in his stomach. He felt like he had just made a deal with the devil.

* * *

Astaroth reveled in joy from the back of his vessel's mind. He nearly had the prince! After six long years of false profiles, look alikes and area scoutings, he had managed to locate the prince.

After Beelzebub's encounter with the young boy, who had been barely ten years of age, it had become harder and harder to locate him, even if Satan made it brutally clear that they had been expected to triple their efforts. Exorcists scouted the area where he and Beelzebub quite nearly drowned in mercury and it didn't help that Beelzebub had the worst of memory.

Satan was both a tyrant and a bastard, with power able to make even the greatest monuments crumble, especially in getting back his son. Problems with being unable to get into an area with exorcists? Human combustions started appearing among their ranks. Exorcists trying to cover up the scene? Equipment would be turned to ash. Not enough vessel's to possess? A whole neighborhood started seeing nightmares of six eyes and blue flames. Satan was serious about getting the young prince back home ASAP.

And now, they were so close to victory! Walking towards a secluded area, Astaroth began putting words of doubt into his vessel. He'd get to the prince, make him understand that soon, soon you could go home, away from this hell they call heaven and the boy would be home in no time. But Astaroth still felt weary. The touch of his skin had shocked the vessel so far that even he felt it. The body was so cold, was he eating correctly? Did they purposely keep him cold so escape would be harder? Or was the body already dead, held together only by the sheer power of will and soul? Astaroth had went straight to panicking and believed that they were too late, but straining his vessel's ears he managed to hear a heartbeat and that was enough to calm him.

He had to get ready. He had to make sure that he didn't fuck this up, this could be the closest he'd get to the boy and this happened only out of sheer luck. He couldn't fail, not now.

He sleeps innocently in the back of the vessel's mind as they enter a closed off space.

"Last night, I was walking around and somebody attacked me-" Wow, what a lie. His vessel can't even bluff. He knows last night he was attacked but certainly not without cause. Killing pigeons would barely be scoffed at in Géhenna, but humans have rules. Morals. Religions. All that hullabaloo."- And I don't know why or how but I have this horrid feeling that it's gonna happen again."

"And what does this have to do with me?" The prince asked. He kept looking around the area, eyes gleaming with a particular shine. Was he looking for escape routes? What for!?

"You're strong as shit, Okumura, half the town knows that." His vessel said in the most exasperated tone he could muster. Oh? "You've picked up trucks and only barely breaking a sweat. If anyone's safe during the apocalypse, they're standing either behind you or next to you."

"Yeah, but then again I'd probably cause the apocalypse, too, though. So theoretically, yeah."

Okay, wait a minute, what?

"Anyway, I'm leaving for True Cross Academy in a week so can I rent you as a bodyguard for until then?"

"And what will I get in return?" The prince put his hands on his hips. Astaroth prays to their father that he wasn't anything like Samael. Everyone's had their fair share of sass from him, these past millenia have been peaceful without him. Minus the war and all but details.

"Money? My parents are pretty loaded, so that's not a problem." His vessel was fidgeting. "Wait! You're brother's going to True Cross, right?"

Immediately, the prince's posture changed. There was something menacing about how oh so slightly his head was cocked to the side, hands folded at his chest and his eyes with a focus that's too sharp to be human. The air was certainly colder now. There was suddenly a suspicious amount of cats in the wreckage.

"What does Yukio have to do with it?"

"I could, I dunno, help him out in finances or reputation or something. That guy is super smart, yes, but there can be some pretty snobbish assholes in there. Rich kid school and all."

"Yukio can handle himself. He's tough and nobody would bully him without him taking action to defend himself."

"Th-that's not what I mean! You know how rumors work, the minute they appear, they follow you your whole life! If something happened like that, who knows how long it might be..." His vessel's voice died out.

"I get what you're trying to say. But still."

"Then what do you want?" The vessel was getting stressed. Just a bit more, get angrier.

"What I want..." The prince hand his thumb on his lip. There was a contemplative look know his face. Suddenly he perked up. "I want a coffee machine."

The atmosphere shifted, stress had almost flew out of his vessel's mind and now confusion was so thick in the air, you could cut it.

And now Astaroth wanted to desperately bash his head in. He was so close. He was so close and then this blue haired curveball just-

"A coffee machine?" The vessel asked, still at a loss.

"And a wet stone set." The prince added.

The vessel had been trying to grasp at straws when suddenly a memory came up. Several actually. A home economics class and the prince was making pastries and dishes and even reprimanding the teacher for not using enough spices, shithead-

"Oh. Oh." His vessel said. Tension was leaving his spine at an alarming rate. Shit, shit, shit. "Yeah, I can do that. Do you have a set you have in mind?"

"No but there is a coffee machine I have in mind. We could check it out, my shift is over either way." Astaroth was going to fucking hang himself, all this plotting and possession, gone at the mutter of a well brewed café affogato in seven seconds. What the fuck-

Wait.

Why can't he reach the vessel? Why can't his words reach him?

Suddenly Astaroth felt a cold so sharp he was forced to retreat into the back of his mind. Fucking shit!

Well, plan B is needed it seems.

* * *

Rin and Reiji were walking through the isles towards the culinary section. It was one of those large department stores where everything one's greedy materialistic heart could desire.

"So this coffee machine, how much does it cost?" Asked Reiji as he pushed the trolley forward. Rin was walking next to him and surveying the shelves and almost everything around them.

"Why do you ask? Thinking it might be too expensive?"

"No- it's just I brought a bunch of money cash wise, so I don't know if I'll be able to buy it now or later." Reiji replied. Rin was still looking through the shelves.

"Oh, okay. It's not that expensive. Not something you see in a high end coffee shop but definitely better than the crap they had in the faculty room."

"You've actually been to the faculty room and managed to snag a cup from that old piece of junk? Why?"

"Pure curiosity. But honestly I regretted it for a whole five hours. The aftertaste and the texture gave you the impression that you just drank tar. The school board seriously has to think about upgrading that thing. It's a miracle those teachers were still alive."

"Geez. Anyway, the housekeeper I have had a pretty good wet stone set, so maybe you could get the one she has." Reiji remarked as they passed the blenders and the mixers.

"How many stones were there?"

"I think five, but I could be wrong."

"Five is a pretty big number in a wet stone set."

"You think?"

"I don't think. I know." Reiji felt something foreboding in his words.

"What, are you the professor of cookware, or something?"

"Nah, I'm going to be a cook, so I want to know what I'll be working with no matter where I work."

"Yeah, with your skills, you look the type. Don't know why you need the coffee machine for."

"I don't sleep. Much. Anyway, here it is."

The automatic coffee machine wasn't large but it was big enough for two positions for cups and a steamer. Black and sleek, with a separate coffee grinder off the side.

"Huh, seems almost classy." Reiji remarked. It was pretty modern-looking, too.

"It probably is. By the way, Reiji?" Rin was looking over the machine and his reflection in the surface. "You had a bullying streak back in primary school, right?"

Reiji suddenly tensed.

"Bullying is essentially something that starts early and usually comes from parental prejudice, but you seemed to put a cap on it in middle school." Rin continued on as he looked over filters. "It's also worth noting that when bullies change, they aren't the ones who go on some righteous path after somebody helps them. The realization that what you do to other people is terrible comes from experiencing the same or worse pain. So what gives?"

Reiji let go of the breath he was holding. When did the air get so cold? When did everything get so quiet?

The lump in his throat was almost painful.

"I-"

"Was it your parents?"

Reiji was sure he was turning into ice.

"Ho- how?"

"Was I right?" Rin turned around to face him. "I'm not saying I hate you for it or anything, but I'm a bit confused you didn't go to your parents for a bodyguard first."

Reiji's eyes were glued to the floor, the shelves, anywhere but Rin.

"Reiji, look at me."

"I'm not their son." Reiji blurted out. He still wasn't looking at Rin. "Not their real son."

"...Do you want to go somewhere else? I know an ice cream shop not far from here."

Reiji finally raised his head. Rin was staring off into the distance before his gaze flickered over to Reiji.

"What about the coffee machine or the wet stones?"

"We can get the wet stones today and the coffee machine later. I have a feeling it's best to wait for it." Rin grabbed Reiji's hand which was gripping the cart. How Rin managed to push him out of the isle and straight into the automatic doors of the store will always be a mystery to Reiji.

* * *

Rin watched as Reiji cried out his life's story right in front of him on the bench of the dark park they were in, clutching the ice cream cup as Doughnut sat on his lap.

To say that he hadn't expected to hear his sad and tragic backstory on this day was an understatement.

Still, even Rin knew that leaving Reiji to go home after that particular burst of words was the equivalent of throwing a child to a pack of wolves. Over his years as reincarnated humans, Rin has seen his fair share of shitty adults and even shittier parents.

Especially when it came to that guy, but details.

"So let me get this straight, when you were at the end of primary school and the school called you in for bullying, the first thing your parents did was drop the bomb on you being adopted and leaving it with the threat of disowning you?" Rin questioned as he stared at the few stray beams of the sun on the horizon. It was getting late, and while Rin would have loved to take a walk around the town in midnight, he was dubiously late already as it was without checking in back at the church and not to mention he had an overly emotional human with him right now.

Especially since it was Rin's cold splash of mercury on the nape of Reiji's neck that kept him from getting possessed by the same thing that tried to do so about an hour ago.

"Yeah... it was a dick move, even on their part. But still, that really terrified me. They haven't been that cold ever since. But now that I'm going away to True Cross Academy, it's like they're trying to squeeze the life out of me. Don't do this, don't do that, it's our reputation on the line, we will throw you out if you fuck up, blah blah blah- it's all just-"

"Like you're drowning in syrup?"

"Exactly. And I hate it so much i want to punch them but I can't actually do that and beating people in the street is even worse in some cases. So I," Oh boy, was this a confession. Reiji swallowed a lump in his throat. "started shooting pigeons instead."

Rin stayed silent for a bit, as he watched coal tars fly towards Reiji only to shoot away from his presence at the smell of mercury. The patch of mercury was glowing, too.

"Reiji."

"Yeah?"

"Do you want me to be honest?"

"...Yeah. Yeah I think so."

"Then I say this," Rin leaned in on the conversation. "I think you're an asshole."

Reiji's face went through what seemed to be a million different emotions for about seven minutes of silence. To which Reiji finally chose to be calm and collected.

"I guess you're right but that's not the end of it, is it?"

"And you are correct. The reason why I think you're an asshole isn't because you tried to be a bully in who knows which grade. It's because you chose hurting others as a way to let off steam, just like your parents. And you know what? While the saying "you aren't your parents" is usually correct, the fact that you're proving that it isn't even with your circumstances shows that you don't hate your parents."

"But-"

"I'm not done. You don't hate your parents. You fear them. You're afraid of what they'll do to you if you don't act the way they like, so you're trying to avoid that by being the very thing you hate - your parents. You think that your legal guardians will leave you alone if they see themselves in you. And that's just horseshit." Rin stood up. He could feel that there was some form of demon getting closer to the park. Best finish this quick, drag Reiji home and then go hunting while everyone's asleep. The blue eyed creature made a pose as he turned to the boy with lavender hair. "Because you're you, Reiji, yet you're not only acting just like other people, you're acting like the people you hate. Which makes no sense to me! But at the same time it does. Tell me, from the bottom of your heart, do you want to resemble your parents, in any way at all?"

Reiji looked guilty. The demon entered the park.

"No..."

"Then why are you doing the opposite?"

"I don't know."

"Fair enough. Then tell me, do you feel guilty for shooting those pigeons?"

Reiji flinched but didn't look Rin in the eyes.

"I - I don't know. It's just- some of those pigeons feel weird. And it drove me up the wall and i-"

"Tried to eliminate the problem because it reminded you of your parents but this one wouldn't have any negative consequences?"

"...Yes."

"Then let me repeat, do you feel guilty for shooting those pigeons?"

"I should but I feel like I can't."

"There you go!" Rin slapped his hands together. Reiji finally looked at him, confused. "First step in not being like your shitty guardians is to to actually feel guilty in hurting others. That guilt is good, because then you hate the guilt and you want to get rid of it! So, then you try to get it out of your system by doing things your parents would never do! Like, say,"

Rin looked at Reiji, expecting an answer. Reiji thought for a moment.

"Ask for forgiveness and repent?" Reiji asked. Honestly, the whole conversation was getting weird but Rin didn't care. He'd rather not have parental issues near Yukio or him, no matter how long.

"Exactly. Say what," Rin grabbed Doughnut off of Reiji's lap and looked him in the eyes. "If you're free tomorrow, we can get the wet stones and feed pigeons seeds until they throw up and if we find the pigeons you hurt somehow, you can buy them an apology snack. Sound cool?"

Reiji blinked a few times, not knowing what to say. In the end, a small smile appeared on his face.

"Yeah, sounds good. Meet up at your house?"

"How do you know where I live?"

"Okumura, everyone knows where you live, you're a fake urban legend at school and your brother is a near genius."

"Just checking, now let's go, I'm still your body guard for the week."


End file.
